Huss
Veteran
Sometimes ebay makes you laugh!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Zen...016297?hash=item58f0240c29:g:HaIAAOSwuxFYtj8X
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Zen...016297?hash=item58f0240c29:g:HaIAAOSwuxFYtj8X
Untested, in good cosmetic condition..
- Thread starter Huss
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Scrambler
Well-known
Not looked much lately, Huss?
I'm fairly sure that older mechanical cameras are pretty much all "untested" - except for the rare examples where they are clearly fully tested. That no-one seems to know how to crank the winder and press the shutter button does surprise me. Surely it's worth $5 more to say "shutter works"?
I just bought a (whisper) SLR on ebay - and selected it mostly because it had been fully tested.
michaelwj
----------------
Surely it's worth another $1 to take off the lens cap, and another $1 to take it out of the case...
Pablito
coco frío
I learned to detest these cameras. Decades behind the Japanese. A photo professor's nightmare when a student would come in with one of these things.
Huss
Veteran
I'm using two of them now. I'll soon see what they can turn out.
This ad is funny cuz rusty, dented and covered with filth = good cosmetic condition.
Peter Jennings
Well-known
Well, if the shutter doesn't work and the lens is cloudy, the value is probably zero. Some sellers count on a buyer taking a gamble on a cheap camera that may - or may not - work.
David Hughes
David Hughes
Well, there's worse, some of them never even open the ERC for the photo and a few just show the bashed and battered box...
Regards, David
Regards, David
Scrambler
Well-known
"Patina" and "brassing", thank you sir. The right kind of wear raises the price ;-)
In fairness, my dented, chrome flaking, brass showing Leica IIIc has spot-on shutter timing while the cosmetically much nicer (and CLAd) IIIc has slow shutter speeds. Sadly the properly running one has a tear in the shutter curtain.
zuiko85
Veteran
Ebay speak.
'untested' = 'it's broken'
'I don't know anything about cameras' = 'it's broken'
'Worked the last time I used it' = 'it's broken' (last used in 1972)
There are a bunch more, mostly translate to, 'it's broken'
'untested' = 'it's broken'
'I don't know anything about cameras' = 'it's broken'
'Worked the last time I used it' = 'it's broken' (last used in 1972)
There are a bunch more, mostly translate to, 'it's broken'
valdas
Veteran
Yes, in most cases... I was lucky once though. An ebay seller in Italy was selling a box of various P&S and lenses - old untested, 50 EUR "for the box". There was some junk there, but it included two working Yashicas T4, Contax
T2 (only focused to infinity, but still I sold that T2 for parts for more than I paid for that box of "junk"). And then there was Zuiko 50mm f1.2. Well, sticky aperture blades, but so what 🙂
grouchos_tash
Well-known
This is totally correct, however, I have found that:
'excellent, working condition' also = 'it's broken'
The last 5 camera's and one lens I've bought from eBay have all been described as working perfectly and have actually been broken. The most recent was a Leica AF-C1 which was described as working perfectly. I bought the battery (some kind of obscure battery pack) and the shutter didn't fire and the film didn't wind on. I sent it back, got a refund but the seller is ignoring my request for a refund for the battery that I was conned into buying.
Timmyjoe
Veteran
Don't know anything about Zenit cameras, but just recently I found a Kodak Signet 35 listed as "good cosmetic condition" but "shutter doesn't fire" and decided to take a chance as I had repaired those shutters before. Got the camera and the shutter worked fine, the seller didn't know you had to cock it first to make it fire.
I think there are a lot of sellers out there who weren't raised on film cameras, and find them to be a mystery.
Best,
-Tim
I think there are a lot of sellers out there who weren't raised on film cameras, and find them to be a mystery.
Best,
-Tim
valdas
Veteran
That's correct - I paid 5 EUR for "non working" Konica Autoreflex full/half frame". The self timer was stuck - 5 min fix...
css9450
Veteran
That's the camera world's version of car ads which state "ran when parked". Of course, it was parked in 1972 and it now has trees growing up through the rusted-out floor...
B-9
Devin Bro
I purchased my Dodge D100 that way,
"Ran good when parked"
Towed its heavy ass across town, spent 3 days under the hood, new alternator, new cap and rotor, and a thorough inspection of wiring harness...
How did I miss that main ground laying next to the battery...
Runs like a top!
"Ran good when parked"
Towed its heavy ass across town, spent 3 days under the hood, new alternator, new cap and rotor, and a thorough inspection of wiring harness...
How did I miss that main ground laying next to the battery...
Runs like a top!
No interest in any Zenit, but certainly the finest bargains I've acquired were of the 'untested' variety.
johnf04
Well-known
I once picked up a very cheap FED 4 which "didn't work". Turn the rewind collar to "advance", and it worked fine.
davidnewtonguitars
Family Snaps
In most collectable markets "good" is the condition just above "crap", so I'd say the seller is being honest.
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
"I don't have a battery to test it." One of my favorites.
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